On Saturday, the crew, along with our very knowledgeable board member Soren Bondrup-Nielsen, collaborated with White Point in hosting a guided nature walk along a beautiful coastal forest trail. Participants learnt new tricks to identify local plant species, the geological history of Nova Scotia and much more. Along the walk, we saw a little redbelly snake on the path, Soren kindly held it for a quick photo. He also explained the interesting fact that due to Nova Scotia and Morocco being connected in the pre-existing supper continent, Pangea, they share similar geology today. It was a very informative walk!
Monday afternoon we said goodbye to the last of the Dalhousie Seaside students for the summer. While here, they enjoyed the open space and natural lighting that the main HLC building had to offer. After a successful week of ecology-based GIS work, the students returned home for the summer. GIS stands for Geographic Information System and can be used to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage and present many types of geographical data. Throughout their week, they spent time hiking, paddling and occasionally driving to data collection sites to complete engaging projects.
Currently, I am enrolled in an Environmental Technician program and I’m very excited to expand my knowledge at HLC this summer as Field Station Assistant. To read more about my role here and a short biography click the blue lettering. This is also my first prolonged stay in Nova Scotia and the beauty surrounding our Centre is mesmerizing. I’ve been working on taking more pictures to remember this adventure by. Here are some fun ones shot by yours truly.
Always breathtaking views to capture at the Harrison Lewis Centre. The second photo is a Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) snacking on a Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens). Yum!
As a fun side project, I’ve been setting up and testing different locations and techniques to capture some of the abundant wildlife around our location. On the first night we caught a feisty raccoon taking an early morning stroll to the beach. The following day our friendly neighborhood bear stopped by for a short video. The trail camera gives us the perfect opportunity to continuously monitor local wildlife and see what they are up to when no one is looking.
On Wednesday, Jessica, Kaitlyn, Dirk and I transformed two mounds of upturned roots by the main building into beautiful garden beds. One garden received lavender, coneflower, butterfly bush and bee balm - all fantastic for pollinators. You have all most likely heard that pollinators are critical to maintaining a healthy ecosystem. The second garden bed will be transformed into our permanent natural dye garden – a partnership with Shelburne-based artist Cindy Hagen who will use the plants for natural dying of textiles! . It was the perfect day to do some gardening!
On Thursday we partook in a lovely guided walk at Kejimkujik Seaside National Park to learn more about their invasive species program, local wildlife, and some interesting plant species. We will be sharing more about this in next weeks blog!
We are excited to be kicking off our Wild Wednesday event this July, so make sure to check out our calendar for more information on these upcoming events.
… and here is the weekly intern update
they quickly outgrew their old home!
Until next the edition of our Friday Field Notes,
– Jamiel